A New York Republican wants Harry Styles to hit the road with a convicted criminal after the pop star spoke out about an ICE shooting.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman took aim at Styles after the singer used a Madison Square Garden concert to call for compassion toward Oscar Belgal, a Dominican national wounded by federal immigration agents in the Bronx.
“I think Harry Styles should put that guy on his tour bus and tour around the country with this guy, who is a convicted criminal,” Blakeman quipped during an appearance on Fox News.
Blakeman, who’s challenging Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul for New York governor, accused Belgal of gang involvement and drug dealing. He questioned why Styles was defending Belgal instead of the agents who shot him.
Harry Styles, a British millionaire stood on stage at Madison Square Garden and lectured Americans about respecting illegal immigrants..
Harry Styles doesn't even live here. His main home is in Hampstead, one of the richest neighborhoods in London, where he's spent around £18… pic.twitter.com/FldB8122Mw
— American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) October 11, 2026
“This is who he sticks up for, rather than federal agents who just want to do their job?” Blakeman asked.
Styles had singled out Belgal during his concert while asking fans to show compassion for immigrants and people from different backgrounds.
“I just want us to take a moment to think about Oscar Belgal tonight,” Styles told the crowd. “The people who don’t look like you and aren’t born where you’re from, they deserve respect, and love, and dignity, and justice.”
Belgal was grazed in the neck when ICE agents opened fire during an encounter in the Bronx. He reportedly tried to drive his car into the officers before they fired their weapons.
His child was in the vehicle, raising concerns among critics of the shooting.
Belgal, initially identified in reports as Oscar Bergal, entered the United States illegally in 2022. He has a history of arrests and convictions, although the gang and drug-dealing allegations raised by Blakeman are separate claims.
Belgal is also fighting deportation in federal court. U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken temporarily blocked his removal while his detention case proceeds. Oetken was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
The shooting became a point of contention Tuesday when Blakeman faced Hochul in a gubernatorial debate.
“ICE is out of control, it’s out of control in Nassau County,” Hochul declared, criticizing immigration enforcement in the county Blakeman oversees.
The governor described an 11-year-old boy who cried after ICE agents detained his father during a raid.
Blakeman defended the county’s cooperation with federal immigration officials, pointing to more than 2,000 immigrants with criminal records he said had been removed through that partnership.
He cited crimes including rape, attempted murder, robbery, burglary, carjacking and drug dealing. Blakeman maintained that those operations didn’t involve raids at schools, hospitals, daycare centers or churches.
The Republican blamed Hochul for blocking Nassau County from continuing to work with ICE and accused her of protecting immigrants with criminal records.
“I have a cooperative agreement with ICE until Kathy Hochul said we could no longer cooperate with ICE,” Blakeman told the debate audience.
Belgal’s case gave him another opening to challenge the governor. Blakeman accused Hochul of asking ICE to release him and blamed her sanctuary policies for his presence in New York.
“Kathy Hochul appealed to ICE to let this criminal out. The question that New Yorkers have to ask is what was this guy doing in New York in the first place? It’s because Kathy Hochul has made us a sanctuary state,” Blakeman charged.
🇺🇸 – WATCH: Gubernatorial candidates Democrat Kathy Hochul and Republican Bruce Blakeman, were quick to attack each other during the opening remarks of Spectrum News' debate. pic.twitter.com/BWdZPAjnLk
— Belaaz News (@TheBelaaz) October 14, 2026
Hochul dismissed his response as a “non-answer” because “he refused to condemn what ICE did.”
Blakeman also brought up two women murdered in Nassau County by an immigrant who was in the country illegally. He demanded to know what Hochul would tell their families.
“What do you say to their families?” he asked.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined the dispute Wednesday, although he acknowledged that he’d only seen a clip of the debate.
A reporter asked whether Hochul should have challenged Blakeman’s accusation that Mamdani is antisemitic. The mayor criticized Blakeman’s past remarks rather than focusing on Hochul’s debate performance.
“So, I think, you know, it is hard for anyone to keep up with all of the bigotry and racism that Bruce Blakeman exhibits on a regular basis,” Mamdani told reporters.
Mamdani also criticized Blakeman’s views on childcare and health care. He recalled the Republican suggesting that universal childcare would benefit parents who stayed home watching “The View” rather than working.
The mayor further accused Blakeman of proposing to cut Medicaid in half. He defended Hochul’s efforts to lower costs for New Yorkers.
Blakeman has some major financial backing from another familiar name at Madison Square Garden.
New York Knicks owner James Dolan controls three companies that poured a combined $3 million into Strong and Safe New York Inc., the super PAC supporting Blakeman’s campaign against Hochul.
MSG Entertainment, MSG Sports and Sphere Entertainment Group LLC each contributed $1 million, according to state election filings. The donations came just hours before Tuesday’s debate.
Dolan has complained about other corporate leaders not doing enough in the election, the New York Post reported. He has supported candidates he considers “pro-business and common sense.”
The Knicks owner also criticized the Partnership for New York City for declining to endorse Blakeman or push harder for lower taxes and economic growth.
The organization says it doesn’t endorse political candidates because it’s nonpartisan. Some of its members support Hochul, according to the Post.